It is important to note that the hero is an inventor. He has been enthralled by the phenomena of nature since childhood. He loves the "science of things. He is so committed to this dream that he faces hardship and endures every difficulty to accomplish it. He is a genius — a Thomas Edison of the future — who in the teeth of every form of opposition, re-invents the electric light.
The essential point is that Equality is a man of the mind. He is a thinker, a man of reason. An invention such as the electric light is a product of the mind. Rand argues that all aspects of progress — scientific research, medical advances, inventions, technological improvements, industrial production — are achievements of the mind.
Such accomplishments are not brought about by faith in the supernatural or, primarily, by manual labor, but by the rational. Historically, individuals such as Equality — thinkers — have been responsible for humankind's greatest advances. Men like Copernicus and Galileo, who established that the sun is the center of the solar system, Charles Darwin, who proved that human life evolved from simpler life forms, the Wright Brothers, who pioneered man's ability to fly, and many more are real-life examples of individuals such as Equality These are men whose minds have discovered vital new truths that significantly improved human life on earth.
The overall principle is that human well-being depends on the reasoning mind. The question Ayn Rand raises in Anthem is this: Is some social condition necessary for the creative mind to function properly? Can the thinkers perform their inventive work under any type of political system? Or is rational productivity possible only under certain political conditions?
The answer she resoundingly provides is that the independent mind needs freedom. Again, the details are in the story. Equality discovers a new force of nature. He does not yet realize that it is electricity; he calls it the "power of the sky" because he knows that it is the same force that is responsible for lightning.
His identification of this power, and his ability to harness it to create the light, require his unswerving dedication to the laws of nature and the facts of reality.
Society's beliefs are irrelevant to this creative process; in this case, they are mistaken. Equality , if he is to succeed in his endeavor, must allow himself to be ruled exclusively by the scientific facts of the case. Nature, not society, sets the terms in all such research and scientific investigations. The independent mind commits itself to truth, facts, and the laws of nature.
The Scholars, as the leading spokespersons for society, regard the electric light as evil. But Equality has come to understand some truths regarding the nature of electricity and knows, from his research and experimentation, that this force can be harnessed to light cities and homes. Part of his proof is the glass box that he shows the Scholars, the light that glows under his control. The beliefs of his brothers are erroneous. The light is not evil; nor is it dangerous in the hands of a man knowledgeable regarding its power.
Equality is a man whose mind is committed to the facts. He is not swayed by the irrational beliefs of his brothers. When society denounces Equality 's thinking and opposes the electric light, he does not bow to their commands. He is committed to truth and to the scientific facts, not to the beliefs of others. His is the nature of an independent thinker. But the rulers of this society have no interest in scientific research or truth.
They are interested exclusively in power. In order to maintain their grip over society, they have to control the thinking of their citizens. They cannot allow the mind to function freely. The acquisition and retention of dictatorial power requires the suppression of free thought.
The society only had candles to see by and no books to learn from. What does the anthem society value? Anthem takes the classic idea of the clash between an individual and his society to a new extreme.
The society in this novella controls every aspect of its members' lives, from their daily schedules to their sexual partners to when they're allowed to smile. What is the government called in Anthem? A totalitarian state stifles the freedom of mind that such progress depends on. A worldwide totalitarian state, as depicted in Anthem, leaves the mind with no refuge.
Thinkers like Equality have no place to go. They are trapped in a system that stifles freethinking. What emotion is equality in Chapter 5?
What is Equality feeling when Liberty brings him water and why doesn't he understand the feeling? He is feeling love and passion, but doesn't understand because he's never experienced it before. Describe the emotion that Equity is feeling at the beginning of chapter 5. Personal pride in an individual accomplishment. Who is equality friend in Anthem? International A friend of Equality , he is a fellow Street Sweeper and has laughter in his eyes.
Who is solidarity in Anthem? Solidarity is one of the Street Sweepers who works with Equality Equality describes him as a "bright youth, without fear in the day" 2. But at night, Solidarity screams out, "Help us! The situation is reminiscent of Hitler's claim that National Socialism was more effectively collectivist than Communism because, as he put it, "The Communists nationalize banks and industries, whereas we [the Nazis] nationalize bankers and industrialists," that is, humans.
Another memorable aspect of this story is the depiction of a collectivist society as regressing into scientific, technological, and industrial collapse.
Her vision of a collectivized society stands in sharp contrast to that of George Orwell as presented in his novel, Orwell and Rand agree about the moral horrors of such a society — the utter lack of individual rights, the slave labor, the indoctrination, the inability to think or speak freely, the terror, and the oppressive sense of futility under these conditions. But Orwell projects a totalitarian state of scientific and technological advance. In , spectacular progress in the hard sciences has created the ability to engage in thought control.
Anthem , on the other hand, shows that a prohibition of freedom results in a decline into primitive subsistence. What is the fundamental philosophical conviction that leads Rand to the belief that a collectivist society is doomed to Dark Age backwardness?
Her theory that progress and scientific knowledge are products of independent minds. Observe the unflagging curiosity of Equality 's intellect. Though forbidden, he dissects animals, melts metals, mixes acids, and raises a lightning rod. He explores and experiments, until finally, he discovers the "power of the sky.
We had been a good Street Sweeper and like all our brother Street Sweepers, save for our cursed wish to know. We looked too long at the stars at night, and at the trees and the earth. He possesses the soul, as well as the intellect, of a great scientist. By virtue of this kind of unshakeable independence, Rand argues, humankind forges ahead, moving from ignorance to enlightenment.
Many of society's great thinkers and innovators were persecuted in much the same way that Equality is. For example, Socrates was executed for the originality of his moral principles. Galileo was threatened with torture by the Inquisition for daring to defend Copernicus, and his contemporary, Giordano Bruno, was burned at the stake. Charles Darwin was damned for originating, and John Scopes jailed for teaching, the theory of evolution. Robert Fulton was scorned, Henry Ford mocked, and Louis Pasteur reviled because of their inventions or new ideas.
The court of social opinion has generally convicted freethinkers. But by being freethinkers, the Equality s of the world are unconcerned about the evaluations of others. Free thought and action continue. But when an innovator like Equality is caught in a political dictatorship that physically prevents him from researching, experimenting, or studying, then the creative mind is stifled. But the mind must be left free to think and to act on its findings, which is the deepest principle lying at the heart of this story.
In a free society, an original thinker like Equality is free to experiment and research, to invent and innovate, and to make scientific breakthroughs and technological advances. This concept is why the world's freest countries have made so many discoveries and have achieved such a high standard of living.
Science and progress require intellectual freedom. A totalitarian state stifles the freedom of mind that such progress depends on. A worldwide totalitarian state, as depicted in Anthem , leaves the mind with no refuge. Thinkers like Equality have no place to go. They are trapped in a system that stifles freethinking. Rand argues that a society in which the mind is stifled will not merely fail to progress, it will regress, losing all the advances that.
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